The Sweet Life in the Country

We're planning on taking the big, proper grown up step of moving to the country side. He (husband to be) has wanted to live in the country since before we met, but he stayed to court me. So now that he has me, he wants to move and that's fine. I love the country; I'm a big fishing girl, I love rowboats and forests and little animals, and big animals for that matter, I love wearing my Hunter wellies and love the rain and puzzling around the house in the peace and quiet. I'm actually really looking forward to endless phone conversations and weekend long sleepovers with my friends instead of the 45 minute tea meet ups, internet shopping and especially the almost lack of pollution. But as our friends are all very selfish and horrible people (), I know the minute we tell them they will start bashing the countryside. That is, those who live in the city. The others will praise it endlessly. So I am once again looking to you Terrific Berries of Awesomeness for insight into what living in the countryside means...because according to an article in (I think) The Sunday Times the past summer, living in the country is an endless parade of picnics, dog walking and sex. Is this true? Do we need to get a dog? Husband to be would be thrilled...

Very interested in how it is for the children, how their day to day life is and about friends and such things. We're not looking at completely remote houses, think the Cotswolds, Cornish seaside towns and just classic Hampshire/Sussex villages.

Maybe I am romanticising what a life in the countryside is, but I imagine sending Roo to a nature nursery where she can explore the woods and the woodland creatures, make friends with sheep and cows, grow our own vegetables and have endless amounts of fruit trees, not having to clean my nostrils every time I come back from a walk, the peacefulness, birds in the garden, bunnies and chickens... hammocks between the trees and just being able to enjoy living instead of rushing all the time. I'm sure people who live in the country side have problems too, but it all looks so easy and nice.

I am from the US. We moved to the country when I was a teen and I hated it! I found it dull, full of backward thinking people, no place you could walk to so everyone was reliant on cars and picking up necessities was a day-long ordeal it seemed!

Now as an adult I love visiting my family house and after enough years in the city I am filled with nostalgia for it and would love to raise my daughter out there! For us, it doesn't make sense at the moment though.

I think that a big move shows you which people are true friends and which ones you were merely passing time with. Inspire people to come visit by throwing a nice housewarming party for yourselves. Do it in style and let them know your home could be like a vacation from the city for them. People love to get away.

I think that the country is a place to be wary of for teenagers. Keep them active in wholesome activities

I grew up at a little lake in the countryside, and there is nothing so sweet and charming as the laid-back, slow-paced country lifestyle. Country perks...

Running barefoot through the grass. Catching fireflies in the dark. Pop-up tents in the backyard. Falling asleep to the sound of crickets outside your window. Hunting for critters in creeks and ponds. Catching and raising tadpoles. Stars...you can see the stars...all of them! Strolls down little country lanes. Walking right down the middle of said lanes because sidewalks don't exist. Tree climbing. Scenic views. Front porches. Meteor showers. Water fights with the garden hose. Glorious absence of commercialism.

Downside to country life...

Distance from all things convenient. Distance from hospitals. Ticks. Spiders. Poor driving conditions in the winter. Dark nights...I do like having street lights now that I'm living in town. Isolating at times.

Overall, I vote for country life. I hope to get back there one day too, but I'm married to a city boy. Good luck with the decision!

We live in the countryside. We live about 10 minutes outside the village and about 40 minutes from the nearest city.

I love it and could never live in a big city again after living so far out. My DH and I grew up in suburbs just outside a city, and only ended up living in the countryside by fluke. There are pros, and cons though.

Our home is detached with a front and back garden. We live off a main road so I can let Amelie play in the garden peacefully, there is rarely any traffic so I'm not living in fear that she'll be hit by a car, and once she stays reasonably close to the house (even though its fenced in) I'm happy for her to play independently without keeping an eagle eye on her, allowing her some freedom. I obviously check up on her but as I said, I'm confident leaving her in the garden alone where as I wouldn't have been if we lived where my DH and I grew up.

Its very quiet and peaceful. Living off a main road we don't attract much traffic which is a godsend. The air is cleaner too.

The big garden allows me the freedom to grow my own flowers and my garden is my pride and joy. We're currently looking into growing our own vegetables, which I'm really looking forward to. As you know, I'm not an animal person, but there is more space to for pets to live freely. I often see rabbits and foxes creeping around the fence, too.

There is also plenty of space should we choose to extend our home any further. The sense of community is beautiful, we get along so well with our neighbours. We're close to the seaside which is fantastic when we have weather like we've had this week.

Now, for the downsides. The roads are worse quality than those in the city. Fine, until a pothole blows your front tyre. For the second time that month! A
Also, you have to be extremely organised. The village shop closes at 7pm. Not ideal if you are like and me and don't remember to buy milk until you've just emptied the last drop out of the carton!

Getting around if you don't drive can be a nightmare. Public transport is unreliable and from speaking to neighbours with teenage children, they seem to spend a lot of time ferrying them about to their friends houses because walking on the old country roads isn't an option.

The quality of clothes shops is rubbish too - I have to make a trip to the city if I want to indulge in a bit of retail therapy.

I've spent my whole life in a pocket village. It's forty five minutes from the city and surrounded by fields on three sides and the Irish sea on the other.

Things we have in the village:

A park.
Sand-dunes/beach.
A village shop (sweets, milk etc).
A pub.
A dentist, doctors and hairdressers.
A train station.
A mystical peacock. I've heard him but I've never seen him. My brother has though.

Good things about living in this village:

Space.
Greenery.
Clean air.
Garden full of birdies (we have an almost tame blackbird called Arnold )
Village fetes in the hall.
Putting up the Christmas tree on the green.
Silence.
We played outside all the time as kids Roller blading, bike rides, going to the beach etc. Pretty idyllic really!

Bad things about living in this village:

If you can't drive your only option is the train, there are no buses. This also makes going out at night difficult. Very expensive to get home in a taxi.
If it snows badly you're stuck. There's only one road in and out.
As a child/teenager I was pretty isolated but I tend to prefer my own company anyway.
Bird noise in the morning is really loud.
No shops. You either have to go to Southport or Liverpool to get what you want.
No schools. My brother and I went to a tiny school (less than a hundred kids) in the next village (which was even smaller and more rural than ours). The school had a coach sent to our village to pick up the few students who came from there. It was the same for high school.

((Our school was adorable though. It was a Catholic school so we had processions through the woods four times a year in ribbons and pretty white dresses (for things like May Day and harvest festival), every summer we had sports day on the lawns of the manor house up the lane (the Lord put on a picnic for us all and gave out the prizes on the portico) and I felt that the schooling was better as the ratio of teachers to pupils was smaller.))

......

Dogs are very popular around here. We had an Alsatian when I was little and mum loved walking her across the dunes